This Is It

(I wrote this blog on Friday but haven't been able to post it until now. After 40 hours of air travel, we finally arrived in Atlanta, and I am headed to Calgary tomorrow! Enjoy this last blog, and thanks again for your support! See you so soon!!)

I can't believe this trip is actually coming to an end, and that I'll be back in Calgary in just a few days. I say 'trip', but after living somewhere for over 3 months, it starts to become your home, your normal, your usual life, and leaving the place also means leaving people and things that have become comfortable and loved behind.

Things I will miss about Uganda:

Seth, the 19 year old Ugandan boy who lives with us to take care of the house and help us where needed, but who has become part of this family of me and the 14 Americans I live with in this house. He has become a very close friend to me, and has been a huge blessing in our ministry at the village we go to as a translator, and the conversations and adventures and laughs I've shared with him are some of the moments I treasure most about this trip.

Michael, a teacher at Makobore High School who has become a very good friend and has helped us out greatly in many situations. He is the absolute most ridiculous man I have ever met, but has the biggest heart and cares for us deeply. He drives us wherever we need, brings us many laughs, comes over to cook dinner, comes over to eat dinner, and I will miss his constant presence in my life greatly.

The boys at Makobore. Some of them are my age and have also become great friends, and I truly will miss going to a Ugandan Boys High School each day. I never thought I'd say that, but God has immensely blessed our ministry and relationships at that school! Saying goodbye to the boys I've grown closest to on Wednesday night was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and I shed many, many tears, knowing that there's only a small chance I will ever see them again. The thing I'll miss the most there is the weekly fellowships where we praise and hear a message and enjoy the presence of God together, and it's fantastic. And also my conversations with Gladson, a 19 year old who chose me as his 'advisor' and who I discuss the Bible and pray with twice a week, and seeing how far he has come in his faith since I first met him is amazing.

Walking random children to school each day as they run to hold my hand as we walk to Makobore, which is beside a primary school. Especially little Ritah, who has blessed me countless times with her hugs and her joy.

Going to a fresh market for our fruits and veggies, especially the avocados that cost about 5 cents each. Also, the children at the market who run to us each time we go.

Random adventures on any given day to other towns or villages or houses. No day is ever really 'normal' here, and hopping in a taxi van to a town I've never heard of for the day or getting our bus stuck in the mud or following a woman through the jungle to get back to the road doesn't even phase me anymore.

Chapati (a thick tortilla type food that we eat all the time) and Ugandan milk tea.

Crazy rain storms.

The many friends we've made, like the Bishop and Mama, Henry who works at the supermarket, Emma who's stall we always go to at the market, Grace who works at the Compassion Child Centre beside Makobore, and our host, Reverend Enoch.

The beautiful people that make up my team, and the laughter and joy they bring me, and the things they've taught me. I've made some really close friends, and living in a different country than them is going to be so hard.

And so so so many more things. I will truly miss the life I live here. Each ministry we are a part of, walking through this town of Rukungiri that has become my home, living with this wonderful team – as excited as I am to be home, it breaks my heart to leave all of this behind.



Things I won't miss (that have made me extremely grateful for certain things at home):

Bathrooms that are just a hole above a cement pit with flies and lizards all around.

Sleeping under a mosquito net.

Bucket showers.

Wearing a long skirt on a very hot day.

Cars with no air conditioning.

Running out of water at the house frequently.

Frequent power outages.

Slow and often unavailable Internet at the Internet cafe.

Matoke (basically unripe banana mush)

Posho. (maize flour and water mush)



But all of these little inconveniences were absolutely worth it and I wouldn't change any of it. This part of my life that I have lived in Uganda has been so good. I'll admit, letting go of expectations and waiting restlessly for more ministry opportunities to show up during the first half of this trip was extremely difficult and challenging. But God has been so faithful in providing opportunities in this last half, and has so obviously used us in this place, and like I said in my last blog, I've had so many amazing experiences and moments and overall, life in Uganda has been so beautifully different! And throughout these last 3.5 months, God has taught me so so so many lessons and has grown my faith and renewed my spirit in so many ways and I'm just so grateful he led me here. I can't possibly list everything I've learned, but some of the biggest lessons are these:



God is FAITHFUL, and if my heart desires to do His will then it IS being done through me and in my life, even if it's not clear to me, because He is SOVEREIGN and I don't have to try and accomplish His will! HE accomplishes His will, my only job is to surrender and TRUST.



Trust, trust, trust, trust!



To have an attitude of gratitude. When you live a life filled with thankfulness to God for each and every thing and situation, your perspective changes. He has orchestrated EACH moment for His purpose and knows what He's doing, which is where trust and gratitude go hand in hand.

Not only can we be thankful for each circumstance and trust that he is in control, but the things he's blessed us with, especially the Western comforts I used to take for granted, are amazing, and being aware of those blessings and living in thankfulness truly changes so much. It also means that everything in my life is given to me by God, so I need to willingly give everything in my life back to God, and be willing to give it all up for His purpose!



There's nothing better than life lived to further the Kingdom of God. Truly.



He knows my needs so much better than I know them, and He takes care of me and leads me to the right paths so that my needs are cared for, even when I don't realize those needs are there. Be still, and know that He is GOD.



"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6



This trip has had ups and downs for sure, but overall has been everything I ever dreamed of, and as I sit here on the bus ride to Kampala where we're staying for a night before catching our flight out on Sunday, I absolutely can not believe it's already come to an end. It's heart-breaking to leave, but I'm so fulfilled and satisfied and at peace about the time I've lived here and the way God has obviously moved through us. I pray I can come back to this little town that I've come to dearly love one day. God is so good, Uganda is incredible, I am so blessed, and I can't wait to see what life at home holds and share my stories and lessons and pictures with y'all in person! (Yes, y'all- living with a bunch of southern Americans rubs off on you after almost 4 months.) See you so soon Calgary.

God bless, and thank you again for all your prayers and support that got me here in the first place, and then got me through 16 weeks away from home, living life to the fullest in Uganda.

All my love,

Marie